Luna: The Moon
This is a great shot of a full moon above. Precisely what the moon looks
like through a 100 power telescope, the picture just isn't nearly as bright.
Unfortunately when viewing the very bright full moon you don't see many of
the craters, mountains, or markings on the moon because the sun is hitting it
straight on and thus casts no shadows or 'lines of termination'.
Above we see a shot of the moon's Copernicus crater. It is one of
the most easily visible craters on the moon because of where it is situated.
The crater appears white and is easily found, surrounded by several dark
lunar "seas".The Copernicus crater measures in at over 93 Kilometers in
diameter!
The most easily recognized lunar crater is the Tycho crater found
near the southern pole of the moon. Easily spotted because of the long white
striations stretching for miles across the lunar surface originating from the
Tycho crater. These lines are actually cracks and gorges in the lunar surface
and are hundreds of miles long. They were caused by the actual impact of the
meteor that created the Tycho crater. It is over 85 kilometers in diameter and
is in fact the deepest of the lunar craters at 4,850 meters from floor to rim!
That is more than half the height of Mount Everest!
Lunar Facts:
- The moon is 3,476 Km in Diameter, ranking number 14 among the largest bodies in
the solar system. See Top 20 Ranking Table
- The moons craters are all named after famous Astronomers, and
Philosophers.
- Some of the largest lunar craters are:
- The Clavius crater is one of the largest in diameter
at 225 kilometers across!
- The Theophilus crater - 100 kilometers in diameter.
- The Plato crater - 101 kilometers in diameter.
- The Ptolemaeus crater - 153 kilometers in diameter
- The dark regions on the moon were originally thought to be vast
bodies of water and thus were named "seas" accordingly.
- These "seas", are actually huge solidified lava flows from long
ago unleashed as a result of collisions with comets and meteors.
- Some of the lunar seas include:
- The famous Sea of Tranquilty
- Sea of Cold
- Sea of Rains
- Sea of Moisture
- The Ocean of Storms
- Sea of Nectar
- Sea of Crises
- Sea of Fertility
- Sea of Serenity
- Sea of Vapours
- The Bay of Rainbows
- The Seething Bay
- The Central Bay
- Sea of Clouds
- It is always the same side of the moon that faces the Earth.
The other side has never been viewed from Earth! This occurs because
the moon is in what the experts call a 'gravitational lock', with its
slightly more massive side firmly in the Earth's gravitational grip and
permanently aligned Earthward.
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